


Together We Try

by flipflop_diva



Series: The Great Divide [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Collection: Purimgifts Day 2, Cunnilingus, Established Relationship, Major Character Injury, Missing Persons, Multi, Natasha Needs a Hug, POV Multiple, Post-Civil War (Marvel), Protective Steve Rogers, Threesome - F/M/M, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-10-02 05:00:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10210124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flipflop_diva/pseuds/flipflop_diva
Summary: Natasha missed them. She longed for them. But more than that, she wished she could do it over, could go back to before the Accords showed up on Tony’s desk, to the last night they were really together, cuddled up on Steve’s bed at the compound, arms and legs entangled.A story in three parts. This is the second part. Set post-Civil War.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dr_Fumbles_McStupid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dr_Fumbles_McStupid/gifts).



Natasha could barely keep her eyes open. She could barely concentrate on anything. She tried to focus on her different body parts, tried to take stock of her injuries. 

It was a struggle to keep to her task. She gritted her teeth, forced herself to move each finger, each toe, to move her legs, her arms. Everything hurt. Every motion sent another bolt of agony through her entire body.

She didn’t know how long she had been here. She didn’t know what day it was or what time it was or even where she was. They had moved her multiple times, each time with a dark cloth over her head. Sometimes they drugged her first. Those times were almost a mercy.

Each time was the same, though. Each time they kept her in a place that was dark and small and cold, and the only voices she ever heard, even when they were moving her, were those of her captors.

She had been trained to survive anything, to withstand torture no matter the form it came in. Lack of food, lack of water. Beatings, burnings, the breaking of bones.

She was supposed to be stronger than this. She was supposed to survive, to thrive.

And she did want to survive. She wanted to hold on. She was trying. But it had been so long. Days were running into each other. Hours had ceased to exist. It was just one painful moment after the next.

She missed them. She longed for them. But more than that, she wished she could do it over, could go back to before the Accords showed up on Tony’s desk, to the last night they were really together, cuddled up on Steve’s bed at the compound, arms and legs entangled. 

They had been so gentle that night, so caring. She had been in a rush, pent up with adrenaline from the mission earlier that day, had wanted to go fast, to dive right in. But Tony and Steve had other ideas. Steve had held her, had stroked her hair, kissed her lips and her neck and her shoulder and her clavicle and then down her belly, along all her scars. He had kept her calm, kept her relaxed, while Tony found a spot between her legs, used his fingers and his tongue and his lips to bring her to climax over and over.

Steve and Tony had finished the night together while she watched, silent and sated next to them. They had pawed at each other, mouths moving clumsily against each other, but when they both came, they had each held her hand, making sure she was right there with them.

“We don’t want you to be alone,” Steve had whispered to her as they gathered her between them once they had finished. 

She had patted him on the arm, gave him a kiss and then turned her head and given Tony one too. She had thought then about saying it, the three words she had sworn years and years ago she would never say to anyone, but she hadn’t. She had closed her eyes and gone to sleep.

She wished now, though, that she had said it then, that she had told them how she felt when she had the chance. She hoped that maybe somehow they knew the truth, had seen through her walls that she always had up.

Her captors were back. She could hear them in the hall outside her cell. She wasn’t sure how much more she could take.

She let her eyes drift close, stopped trying to fight. Maybe today this would be easier. Maybe today she could let herself give in, just for a second, and let the world finally fade to black.

•••

Steve was pacing. His nerves were on fire, his stomach in knots. It had been a long time since he had been nervous in this way. Normally his nerves were more focused — the excitement of a looming battle or the fear of the challenge that lie ahead. This was different. Scarier. Harder.

It had been months since he had seen Tony, even longer since they had last been together. It had started as a disagreement, a different way of looking at a situation. It wasn’t supposed to have exploded the way it did. They were never supposed to have been on opposite sides. They were never supposed to have literally been fighting each other.

But they had. They had fought, viciously and violently, and then they had gone their separate ways, each angry and betrayed. 

One thing had never changed, though. Steve still loved Tony, still loved Natasha, as much as he had before. He just wasn’t sure how the other two felt about him.

But it was too late to wonder anymore, because the plane was landing, and then the doors were opening and then he was there, walking down the stairs. 

And Steve couldn’t help it. He threw himself at the other man, threw his arms around one of the two people he loved most in the world.

There was no one else around, just the two of them in the middle of a little dirt runway on a private airstrip in Wakanda, but it wouldn’t have mattered if there had been a thousand people. It wouldn’t have stopped Steve from pressing his palms to either side of Tony’s face, from kissing him the way he had been dreaming of kissing him for months.

“I’m so sorry,” he said when he pulled back.

“I’m sorry, too,” Tony replied. “For all of it.”

They stared at each other, reading months of sorrow and regret in the other’s expression. Somewhere deep down, Steve knew they couldn’t fix everything by words alone. Not after what they had done to each other. Not after how they had each betrayed each other. But it was something. It was a start.

“Thank you for coming,” Steve said, and Tony frowned.

“You don’t have to thank me. I love her, too.”

“I don’t know where to start,” Steve said. He hated how hopeless he sounded.

Tony placed a hand on his arm. Surprisingly warm. Surprisingly comforting.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I do.”


End file.
